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Credit & Copyright: International Gemini Observatory /
NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab),
T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
Explanation:
Nä éUhane Mähoe Huki På
i ke Ola,
is the Hawaiian name given to this
image of a pair of spiral galaxies locked in
a mutual gravitational embrace.
Some 200 million light-years
distant toward the high flying constellation Pegasus
their spectacular, galactic scale merger is captured in sharp detail in
the image from the 8.1 meter
Gemini
North
telescope on Maunakea, HawaiÁi.
The galaxy pair,
known as NGC 7253 and Arp
278,
was chosen as a target, researched, and given a
Hawaiian name by high school students
in the joint Gemini Observatory and
University of Hawaiéi
Project Håkålani internship program.
The name translates to
"The Twin Spirits Pulling Together Creating Life".
That's both culturally and astronomically appropriate for
galaxy
collisions
that trigger a cosmic
maelstrom
of star formation
from galactic reservoirs of elemental building blocks of life.
These
merging galaxies
are found within a region of Pegasus identified
as the Hawaiian navigational constellation
Ka Lupe o Kawelo.
Image Processing: J. Miller & M. Rodriguez (International Gemini Observatory/NSF NOIRLab),
T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)
APOD's main NASA site is
moving:
From apod.nasa.gov to
science.nasa.gov/apod
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A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day